The subjects of Nick Brandt’s photographic series are always related to the destructive impact humanity is having both on the natural world and now also on human beings themselves.

In the East African trilogy, On This Earth, A Shadow Falls Across The Ravaged Land (2001-2012), Brandt established a style of photographic portraiture of animals in the wild similar to that of studio photography of humans, shot on medium format film, attempting to portray animals as sentient creatures not so different from ourselves.

In Inherit the Dust (2016), Brandt photographed in places in East Africa where the animals used to roam. At each location, life-size panels of unpublished photographs of animal portraits were erected, situating the panels within a world of explosive human development. In this out-of-control world, the victims are not only the animals, but also the humans.

Photographed in colour for the first time, This Empty World (2019) addresses the increasing destruction of East Africa’s natural world at the hands of humans, showing a world in which, overwhelmed by runaway development, there is no longer room for animals to survive. The people in the photos are also often helplessly swept away by the relentless tide of “progress”. Each image is a combination of two moments in time taken from exactly the same camera position, once with wild animals entering the frame, after which a set is constructed and a cast of people from local communities is chosen.

The Day May Break (2021-2023) is an ongoing global series portraying people and animals affected by environmental degradation and destruction.

Chapter one was photographed in Zimbabwe and Kenya in 2020, chapter two in Bolivia in 2022.

Chapter three was photographed in Fiji in 2023 and will be published in September this year.

In chapters one and two, the people in the photographs have been severely affected by climate change, from extreme droughts to floods that have destroyed their homes and livelihoods. The photographs were taken at various sanctuaries and conservation centres.

Almost all of the animals are long-term rescues, victims of everything from habitat destruction to wildlife trafficking.

These animals can never be returned to their natural habitat. As a result, almost all of them are habituated to humans, so it was certain that human strangers would be near them, photographed in the same frame at the same time.

Brandt has had solo exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world, including New York, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Paris and Los Angeles.

All series are published in book form.

Born and raised in London, where he studied painting and film, Brandt now lives in the mountains of Southern California.

In 2010, Brandt co-founded the Big Life Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Kenya/Tanzania that employs over 300 local rangers protecting 1.6 million acres of the Amboseli/Kilimanjaro ecosystem.